Happiness He Had
by Harmony'sLoveHP
Summary: Derek recalls a memories from high school relationships. Kate comes in during the second chapter.
1. Happiness He Had

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf.

Happiness He Had

_Italics _flashback

Derek stood on his front porch, watching Scott and his girlfriend. Derek didn't see why Scott was dating her, after all, it was Allison's father who was trying to kill both of them. Did the boy have a death sentence or something? In Derek's opinion, Scott was on a suicide mission. Rather because Allison's father could kill them both or because Scott could kill all of the people he loved, he didn't know.

Derek turned and walked back into his home. He didn't feel like explaining his reasons for being at his old, burnt home today. The house was still his home, that's what people didn't get. Just because the Hale house was burnt, it didn't make it any less worthy of being his home. There was childhood memories there. This was the place that had claimed his families lives.

Derek sat down on the couch, listening to Scott and Allison's laughter. He had been in love once, when he was in high school, but that had been taken from him. The happiness he had had.

_Sixteen-year-old Derek Hale stood in front of his messy locker, realizing that maybe he should throw out some of the junk. It was getting to be a pain to open his locker and have an avalanche of books and papers fall out, causing him to be late to class because he had to pick it up._

"_Derek," a girl called. He looked up to see a pretty blonde coming towards him. He quickly grabbed what he needed and slammed his locker shut before she could see the mess._

"_Hey, Aria," Derek said, hopping he had gotten the entire mess put away. The blonde stopped deside him._

"_So, how was your weekend?" she asked, casually. He shrugged._

"_Okay, I guess."_

"_That's good."_

"_Yeah," he said. They were silent. He thought of the term "awkward silence" that his friends always used. This wasn't the case. It was never awkward around Aria. "So, how was your weekend?"_

_Aria shrugged. "Suckish. My mom dragged me all over the mall looking for the perfect dress for the perfect girl for the dance," she said and looked at him quickly. "My mom's words, not mine." Derek nodded._

"_Okay."_

"_Yeah…so, you are going to the dance, aren't you?" she asked shyly. Derek shrugged. "Come on, you have to go!"_

"_Is it mandatory?"_

"_Erm, no, but it'll be fun."_

"_Then, I don't have to go, now do I?" he asked. She rolled her eyes. "You going with anyone?"_

"_No, are you asking?"_

"_Perhaps."_

"_See you at seven."_

"_Seven," he repeated as she walked away._

Aria's family moved a month after the dance. Aria never said she was leaving, she just never showed up at school, and Derek finally asked where she was after her not returning his calls. Her father had gotten a job in China.


	2. The Only Family He Had Left

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf.

The Only Family He Had Left

Derek looked outside to see that Scott and Allison had moved on. He stood and turned to the stairs. He walked past all the charred heirlooms that had been ruing. All he had left was memories.

The memories he did own were both good and bad. And some were a mixture of both. He had memories of his parents, his sister, friends, and his uncle, whom still remained in a coma. He sighed. No matter what memory, they always hurt.

_Derek slammed his now clean locker shut only to find Kate Argent standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. Derek eyed her wearily. Down the hall, Derek could see his sister Laura laughing with a group of friends._

"_What?" Derek asked finally. Kate shrugged. "You want something, I can see it in your eyes."_

"_Everyone desires something, Derek, rather we go after it is another story," she stated simply. "What do you desire most, Derek Hale? What's your biggest dream?"_

"_My biggest dream? I don't dream, Kate, I tend to try and live in the real world," Derek said. _

"_Fine, you're biggest hope or wish."_

"_I hope and wish that you will leave me alone so I can make my way to class and forget this conversation."_

"_Well, aren't you a social guy?" she asked sarcastically. Derek gave her a look. "Fine, I heard about Aria-"_

"_And you wanted to see how I was doing?" he cut in._

"_No, I was wondering if you were looking for a rebound yet."_

"_A rebound?" Derek asked. Kate nodded._

"_Yeah, like someone you date after a break up…or being dumped," she stated. "A rebound. Someone who you aren't actually in love with."_

"_Love is overrated," Derek said. She shrugged._

"_Just think about it, okay?" she asked. Derek nodded slightly. She nodded and turned. "Good." Derek watched her walk away._

After reliving the memory, Derek realized that back then he'd never thought of ever getting a rebound. He'd thought he'd loved Aria, but he realized that he hadn't. She'd just been someone to pass the time with. He realized that now. He wondered if she felt the same way.

Derek walked into the room he had lived in as a kid and had claimed as his room again. He sat down on the bed and looked around the charred room. He remembered the fire marshal approaching him and telling him that everyone in the home except for Derek, Laura, and Peter had died in the fire, but Peter had severe burns and was taken to the hospital. The only family he had left.


	3. Haunted

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf.

Haunted

Derek stared out his bedroom window. He could see the outline of Scott and Allison over by the creek. He sat there, thinking and wondering about what would have happened had the fire not have started. Would he have still been a werewolf? Would Scott have been a werewolf? Would they even _be_ in this mess had he not been changed? Scott was a handful, he had to say that.

Scott was also young, but he still drove Derek insane. With all the questions, and having to cover tracks, Scott was all that Derek could handle. Laura hadn't been like that. But then again, Laura also hadn't been a teenage boy. And, she'd been his sister. But, she'd still been his younger sister and got on his nerves at times.

_Derek walked down the hall. He was heading to the class he hated the most: math. Whoever had invented math should be shot. The 1800's did just fine without Algebra and Calculus and Geometry, so why did they need to have it? He wasn't failing math, but he didn't have the greatest grades. His father was always telling him that he needed to get that C up to a B at least. An A would be the best. Derek always shrugged him off and often forgot about the entire conversation._

"_Derek, Derek, Derek," Kate said, sidling up next to him. "What have you been up to? You know, I waited last night for you to call, but…you never did. What's up with that, big boy?"_

"_Big boy?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. She shrugged._

"_Answer my question," she said, crossing her arms over her chest._

_Derek found that for some reason, Kate could be quite…frightening. For some reason, she had that edge. The edge that she could kick you down and kill you in an instant. One way of saying it is: she gave him the creeps._

"_I was at home."_

"_Doing what?" _

"_Being bored," he said as he walked down the hall, trying to shake her off. She didn't budge._

"_Well, if you were bored, you know my number, don't you? Phone book? Internet? It's all there, Derek boy," she said. Now he was creeped. _

_He had to keep a low profile for a few days since the full moon was coming up. How he was going to handle that, he had no clue. His sister would also be turning along with his uncle, and, well, his entire family. That would be fun._

"_I was busy, actually," he said, turning to go down another hall. Perhaps he could take the long way today…She pulled him to a stop. Nope, apparently not._

"_You're avoiding me, I can tell. I can practically smell it on you. What's up, Hale? Some big secret? The full moon's coming up, you know about all those superstitions, now don't you? About how werewolves howl at the moon?" she asked. He stared at her. "You probably think I'm crazy, don't you? Believing in werewolves."_

"_They're nothing but myths, Kate, no reason to believe in that silliness," he said. "Besides, what kind of wolf would howl at a stupid moon? If you were a werewolf for one night, what would you do?"_

"_Hunt the Alpha."_

"_You sound so sure about that. Isn't the Alpha the leader of the pack? The person who can create new werewolves?" Derek challenged, leaning against the wall. She raised her eyebrows at him._

"_Now, you might want to be careful about what you say, Hale, people might think you believe in those myths," she said with a smile. She looked up as the bell rang. "So, I'll see you Saturday at eight. Pick me up then."_

"_For what?" Derek asked._

"_Our date, Hale," she said and ran down the hall. Derek sighed. Argent's. They were a pain in his -_

Derek bolted up when the door opened below and the floor creaked as someone stepped in. He didn't understand why it was that people would want to come to his house. But then again, as he thought about it, creepy houses were thought to be haunted. He was the only person who haunted this house. Well, him, the mice, and the memories that the walls held.

He crept down the hall to look over the banister, but still remaining hidden. He let out a low growl and the intruder looked up. A teenage boy. He turned and fled. Derek straightened. He might have just scarred the kid for life, but it wasn't his problem. He had to think of a way to make sure Scott didn't kill anyone.

**A/N: Thank you to the roleplay by Aphrodite-Venus-u.k. who helped me to get some of the lines used in this chapter. I also want to thank Aphrodite-Venus-u.k. for giving me the idea of using Kate as a rebound.**


	4. Big Boy

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf.

Big Boy

There was a little bit of a low growl heard from Derek after the boy had gone. He turned and walked back to his bedroom. If the room had had a door on it, he would have slammed it shut. He was growing tired of the teenager's games. Every. Single. One.

Teenagers brought an annoyance back that he'd thought he'd once lost. The annoyance that they think their superior to everyone, teachers, peers, younger students, everyone. He hated how they had thought that. Apparently, the parents didn't care what their kids did. Derek's had raised him better.

_Derek arrived at Kate's ten minutes late. He stood on her front porch, listening as her mom talked and her brother watched him. He waited for her to run down the stairs and yell at him for being late. She didn't appear. He shifted stances as her mom asked if he would like to come in._

_ "I'm sorry about the wait," she said as they walked towards the living room. He sat down on the couch. "Normally Kate's on time. She rarely messes with these things."_

_ "It's alright," Derek said, becoming impatient. He hadn't wanted to do this in the first place, yet there he was._

_ He watched Kate's mom fuss around the living room, straightening things that didn't need to be straightened. All the while, he also kept an eye on the clock. Five minutes passed, then ten. Where the heck was this girl and what was taking so long? He also kept watching the stairs in hope that she'd appear._

_ Kate's mother kept offering foods and drinks. Each time, he politely denied. Well, until she kept asking if he was sure and started to get on his nerves. He'd look at the clock and then a different one, wondering where in the world she was._

_ Finally, after about half an hour, Kate appeared clad in, of all things, jeans and a t-shirt. Derek wanted to yell. Surely getting dressed hadn't been what was taking so long, unless she had been torturing him on purpose. He stood when she appeared, only a_llowing her to see his obvious look of annoyance.

"Sorry that I'm late. I was on the phone with…a friend," she said, picking up her coat. "I'll be back sometime, Mom." Derek followed her outside.

"It was intentional, wasn't it?" he asked as soon as they were out of hearing range of her mother and brother. She looked at him innocently.

"What are you talking about, Derek Hale?" she asked, moving to get into the car.

"It's classic, Kate, the oldest one in the books: the girl takes forever to get ready and leaves the boy with her parents, getting hammered with questions," he said coldly.

"Oh, relax, big boy," she said, rolling her eyes and slipping past him and into the car. Again with big boy.

Derek hated the two words "big boy." They were stupid words, but yet, when he thought of Kate saying them and everything being different then, he didn't mind her saying them. Now? He would probably be ticked.


	5. To Stop Then and Forever

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf.

To Stop Then and Forever

Derek sighed as he pulled up in front of the movies. Did he look like the kind of person who wanted to be there? He really didn't want to. He glanced at Kate out of the corner of his eye and then away. Stupid. Why had he even agreed to this in the first time? He didn't need a rebound, he would have done just fine.

Derek got out of the truck and waited for Kate to get out. If she thought that he was going to open the door for her, then she was crazy. After she spent an hour "on the phone", he was not going to do something nice for her. She was nuts.

Kate gave Derek a cold look as they walked to the movie theater. Derek didn't acknowledge it. He ignored her as he paid for their tickets and two popcorns. He'd even let Kate pick out the movie. That was all she got.

"You know, you don't have to be such a butt about this," Kate said as they entered the theater to find seats. Derek shrugged. "I really was on the phone, Derek."

"Whatever you say," he said, sitting down. She sighed, but sat down quietly and took a handful of popcorn and eating it slowly.

Derek leaned back in the seat as the lights dimmed and the previews started. He glanced at Kate. She was staring ahead, but her popcorn had gone untouched other than the handful she'd eaten. Derek reached over and took a handful, receiving a playful slap.

"You always have to take my stuff, don't you?" Kate asked. Derek shrugged.

"Nah, I'll stop once it stops bugging you so much," he replied. She rolled her eyes and seemed to relax a bit. "Why does it bug you so much?"

"It doesn't bug me."

"Sure it doesn't."

"I'm serious, Der, it doesn't but me."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"You don't sound sure," Derek said with a smirk and sat back in his seat again until a piece of popcorn hit him. He frowned and looked at Kate. She was watching the screen, an innocent look on her face. Derek threw the popcorn back at her and stared straight ahead.

"You really hate to lose, don't you?" she asked, throwing the popcorn back. He shrugged.

"I guess," he said. She rolled her eyes.

"There's no guessing, Derek, I know you hate to lose," she said. Derek glanced at her and then at the screen, not replying.

Derek glanced at Kate after an hour of the movie and shifted slightly in his seat. Kate had finally stopped making him mad. He inspected her out of the corner of his eye. He took in her dark, wavy hair, her green eyes, and the unbelievable thing that she was doing: still eating her first container of popcorn.

Kate looked at Derek and found him watching. She smiled slightly at him. Derek smiled back slightly, uncertainly. She frowned at him. He shook his head. She kept frowning. On the screen, a man with a chainsaw had just emerged. Derek didn't pay attention to the movie anymore.

"What?" Kate whispered. Derek smiled at her and then leaned in and kissed her softly.

Derek could tell that she was caught off guard and a little cautious at first. It was as though she didn't trust him, or she thought that he was going to pull away and laugh. Oddly, though, that wasn't what Derek had in mind. He didn't know what had possessed him to kiss her, but he had and he was glad, at the time, that he did.

Derek pulled away and looked at Kate. Now, he expected for her to laugh at him, to spit in his face, to say he was stupid, or all of the above. She caught him off guard by smiling at him. So, he must have done something right, but how much could he do right?

Derek walked from room to room of his old, charred home. That memory had been a good one, but his and Kate's relationship had been a long one. They fought; they made up, and then did it all over again. Then, there was the big argument between the both of them. It had been the argument that left them broken up. They never spoke again.

Kate hadn't found out what Derek was, but that had been when Derek found out about his family. It had been the first time that he'd gone through a change. He'd been moody and a complete jerk, but what he said to Kate was the truth. He had to end it. There was no way that his and Kate's ways of life could go on.

Derek had known what Kate's family was and then he couldn't keep on seeing her. It would endanger him and he didn't want Kate to know the truth, at least not then. He had to have time to think and that time lead to Kate moving away. He never saw her or heard from her until she tried to kill him. That had been the last time.

Derek sighed and looked out a dusty old window. He missed his family, Kate, and everyone. But, not having them around was what caused him to become strong. It had caused him to be able to not let emotions get in the way. It had also let him teach Scott, which was a ton and a half. He had learned himself, but it'd still changed with Scott. Things were always changing. The Earth always changed, so why shouldn't everything else?

Derek shook his head. He had to stop thinking about this stuff. He was going to stop cold turkey. He wasn't going to keep hurting himself. He couldn't keep hurting himself anymore. The pain was getting to him and he couldn't allow for his emotions to do that. No, he had to stop. He was going to push all the memories away and stop hurting himself and make him weak.

It all had to stop. It had to stop then and forever.

**A/N: So…was it a good ending to the story? I realized I had it marked as completed, but I couldn't finish it to end like that. I couldn't not put in their date. :D So, I hope you have enjoyed it and I want to thank everyone on Aphrodite-Venus-u.k.'s Teen Wolf forum for some of the ideas that were used in this story. **


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